WO2012117361A1 - Procédé et système pour gérer et organiser automatiquement une base de données de numéros de chaîne logique (lcn) apparentés à des programmes de télévision - Google Patents

Procédé et système pour gérer et organiser automatiquement une base de données de numéros de chaîne logique (lcn) apparentés à des programmes de télévision Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2012117361A1
WO2012117361A1 PCT/IB2012/050957 IB2012050957W WO2012117361A1 WO 2012117361 A1 WO2012117361 A1 WO 2012117361A1 IB 2012050957 W IB2012050957 W IB 2012050957W WO 2012117361 A1 WO2012117361 A1 WO 2012117361A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
lcn
level
channel
remote control
key
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IB2012/050957
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Paolo D'amato
Saverio Celia
Original Assignee
Sisvel Technology S.R.L.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Sisvel Technology S.R.L. filed Critical Sisvel Technology S.R.L.
Priority to EP12715155.3A priority Critical patent/EP2710798A1/fr
Publication of WO2012117361A1 publication Critical patent/WO2012117361A1/fr

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N5/00—Details of television systems
    • H04N5/44—Receiver circuitry for the reception of television signals according to analogue transmission standards
    • H04N5/50—Tuning indicators; Automatic tuning control
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/41—Structure of client; Structure of client peripherals
    • H04N21/422—Input-only peripherals, i.e. input devices connected to specially adapted client devices, e.g. global positioning system [GPS]
    • H04N21/42204—User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor
    • H04N21/42206—User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor characterized by hardware details
    • H04N21/4221—Dedicated function buttons, e.g. for the control of an EPG, subtitles, aspect ratio, picture-in-picture or teletext
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/47—End-user applications
    • H04N21/482—End-user interface for program selection
    • H04N21/4821—End-user interface for program selection using a grid, e.g. sorted out by channel and broadcast time

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to transmission and reception of radio-television programs, in particular to a method and a system for logically sorting radio-television channels, which properly takes into account the number that often identifies each radio-television channel and makes it easily retrievable by the user upon reception.
  • radio-television signal receivers currently on the market are equipped with a system for automatically programming and storing receivable radio- television programs; such a system catalogues the programs by sorting them not according to their channel frequency, which would be difficult to remember, but according to simple logic criteria associated with the program's name and broadcaster.
  • Analog radio-television signal receivers which are currently being discontinued, used the so-called ATSS (Automatic Tuning and Sorting System), which is the subject of European patent no. EP 0486988, whereas modern digital radio-television signal receivers use a system based on the logical channel number (LCN), consisting of a number assigned by consortia of radio-television broadcasters to a certain program receivable in a certain geographic or catchment area.
  • LPN logical channel number
  • the LCN system is a numeric code that identifies the programs being broadcast via digital terrestrial technology by the various broadcasters, and is therefore used by most of the so-called digital terrestrial radio-television receivers in order to automatically assign a predefined position in a program list to each program received, i.e. a position within a sorted sequence of radio-television programs that the receiver can tune to, which is independent of the frequency assigned to the program, of the emitting source, and of the transmission means employed.
  • PCT/EPOO/10280 filed on 20th October 2000, relates to a method for placing received radio-television programs into a suitable list on the basis of indications about the geographic area involved and of information about the transmission network contained in the received signal; it uses both the unique identification service and the LCN system.
  • LCNs are normally managed in a digital TV receiver as follows: at installation time, the receiver scans the band and, if the user has chosen the mode: "Use LCNs", then the receiver will sort the stations according to the LCN assigned thereto by the Telecommunications Authority and transmitted within the video stream. It may happen that several stations have the same LCN: in such a case, the receiver will ask the user which station he/she wants to store into the location corresponding to said LCN, and will move the other stations to the bottom of the list.
  • the object of the present invention is to overcome the above-described problems of the prior art by providing a method for automatically managing and organizing LCNs which allows creating new forms of management that are more convenient for the users.
  • Fig. 1 diagrammatically shows a possible system according to the present invention
  • Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the system of Fig. 1;
  • Fig. 3 diagrammatically shows the remote control device of Fig. 1 ;
  • Fig. 4 is a block diagram of the steps of the method according to the present invention.
  • FIG. 1 shows a schematic drawing of a system 1 according to the invention, which substantially comprises a remote control device 2 (shown herein as a common remote control) operatively connected to at least one receiving device 9 (which is shown herein as a television set, but may of course be any other device suitable for this purpose, such as a set top box, a video recorder, a decoder, etc.).
  • a remote control device 2 shown herein as a common remote control
  • receiving device 9 which is shown herein as a television set, but may of course be any other device suitable for this purpose, such as a set top box, a video recorder, a decoder, etc.
  • a remote control device 2 which may advantageously comprise: at least one first central processing unit (CPU) 3, operatively connected to actuating means 5 and to transmitting means 7, which are adapted to transmit to the at least one receiving device 9 the control signals actuated by the actuating means 5 and processed and prepared for transmission by the central processing unit 3.
  • the central processing unit 3 is also connected to at least one first memory 11 containing data necessary for the normal operation of the remote control device.
  • actuating means consist herein of one or more keys or other switching elements (wheel or mouse) of the control device 2, through which the user can select a channel for viewing. This selection may usually occur in two ways:
  • Fig. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the components of the receiving device 9 used by the invention, i.e.: at least one second central processing unit (CPU) 14, operatively connected to receiving means 16 adapted to receive control signals transmitted by the remote control device 2; and at least one second memory 18, operatively connected to the central processing unit 14 and containing data necessary for implementing the method of the invention (e.g. the LCN database 20, which will be described later on).
  • CPU central processing unit
  • receiving means 16 adapted to receive control signals transmitted by the remote control device 2
  • second memory 18 operatively connected to the central processing unit 14 and containing data necessary for implementing the method of the invention (e.g. the LCN database 20, which will be described later on).
  • a system 1 consisting of a remote control device 2 operatively connected to a television set 9, as shown in Fig. 1.
  • the actuating means 5 consist of a key (or two or a plurality of keys, depending on the application) of said remote control device. It is obvious that this is just one of the possible practical implementations of the inventive device.
  • the inventive idea derives in general from the observation that it is actually preferable that some television stations (also referred to herein, without distinction, as television channels) have the same LCN and are therefore accessible by pressing the same key or the same combination of keys of the remote control device 2.
  • Fig. 3 For example, it is logical that the stations: La7, Rete7, Italia7, Europa7, since their names include the number "7", can be accessed by pressing the key "7" 15 on the remote control device 2.
  • a "main" station such as La7+1 (i.e.
  • LCN means: "Logical Channel Number”.
  • the current station database is a one-level database, it would be convenient to have a station database 20 having two or more levels (indicated in general as "n" levels), i.e.
  • the stations can be accessed in two or more (“n") steps, the first one allowing access to the first level (e.g. all stations including the number "7” or the string "sette” (seven) in their names), and the second one and any additional steps allowing to choose the desired station from the group of stations selected at the first level.
  • the first level e.g. all stations including the number "7” or the string "sette” (seven) in their names
  • the second one and any additional steps allowing to choose the desired station from the group of stations selected at the first level.
  • Said steps of creating a multilevel LCN database (to be stored into the receiver 9), of accessing the various levels through a suitably sent control signal, of displaying the desired channel list on the screen of the receiver 9 and, finally, of selecting the preferred channel for final viewing, are steps that can be easily managed through suitable software present in the inventive system 1 (in the receiver 9 or in the remote control device 2), which will not be described herein any further because it can be created without difficulty by any man skilled in the art.
  • the invention therefore provides a method which is based upon a two-level or multilevel LCN database 20 (contained in the receiver 9), the second level containing second-level LCNs grouped under a respective first-level LCN present in the said database 20, and so on for the next levels, which are respectively grouped in relation to the next higher level.
  • the second-level LCNs are defined by the order in which they are stored and presented to the user, when the hierarchically higher LCN under which they have been grouped is selected. Of course, this also applies to any LCNs of a level other than the second one.
  • the invention is also applicable to the case of perfect compliance with the LCNs defined by the competent authorities, in that they may come in conflict for various reasons.
  • the national territory especially in the proximity of regional borders, it may happen that television signals of the same channel are received simultaneously with at least a part of the programs diversified by region: for example, channel “RAI3 TGR Piemonte” and channel “RAD TGR Lombardia”. It is logical for a user that these two channels, both having the same LCN 3, are accessible by pressing the same key "3" on the remote control device.
  • a television receiver apparatus receives different channels being broadcast with the same LCN; for example, RAI 1 and FR 1 (the first Italian channel and the first French channel, respectively), RAI 2 and RSI LA2 (the second Italian channel and the second Swiss channel in Italian, respectively), and so forth.
  • hybrid receivers which can receive television signals via cable (DVB-C or TCP/IP signals) and/or air (DVB-T signals received through a terrestrial antenna) and/or satellite (DVB-S signals received through a satellite antenna).
  • receivers capable of receiving television signals being received with different transmission standards like dual-tuner (analog and digital) receivers or receivers capable of receiving digital signals of different generations (e.g. DVB-S and DVB-S2, DVB-T and DVB-T2, etc.).
  • LCN generally means the program number logically associated, whether by a user or by a broadcaster, with a certain television channel, which is somehow associated with a key or a combination of keys to be pressed in order to select a channel for viewing.
  • said selection may occur by means of a mechanism providing for successive levels that allows the channels in the program list to be managed with a flexible method, apparatus and system in such a way that they can be reorganized according to the user's preferences.
  • the various preferred embodiments of the invention differ in what happens on the receiver 9 side.
  • the first station having that LCN will be accessed: for example, by pressing the key "7" (key 15 in Fig. 3), one gains access to the first station having the first-level LCN "7", and having therefore the second-level LCN equal to 1.
  • the remote control 2 includes two (or n, in the case of an n-level database) pairs of keys "P2+” 26' and "P2-" 26", one for browsing the first-level LCNs and the other for browsing the second-level LCNs (which may even not be transmitted, if the Telecommunications Authority gives up normalizing the second level), or the current situation is maintained, with just one pair of keys 25.
  • one pair of keys or n pairs of keys especially when the database levels are more than two, one may adopt solutions equipped with a wheel or mouse for continuously browsing the various channel lists in order to select the desired one.
  • the various channels may be displayed in groups and selected through menu displays obtainable by actuating means 5 under control of suitable software, which, being within reach of any man skilled in the art, will not be described in detail herein.
  • the present invention allows to solve the situation wherein the user wants to rearrange the television channels having the same first-level LCN because he/she considers unlogical the random order (dictated by the transmission frequency) in which the stations are being presented.
  • the user can thus be allowed to rearrange the stations with the same first-level LCN in the order considered to be the most "logical" or convenient one.
  • ATSS systems offer a manual station sorting function, but there is no instance of application of the same principle to two-levels LCNs. It can be implemented through a software routine stored in the memory 18 and executable by the processing unit 14 of the receiving device 9.
  • the invention can also be used by the broadcaster, who can transmit the value of the second-level LCN linked to the respective first-level LCN.
  • the invention also includes a solution wherein the value of the second-level LCN is not transmitted or not even defined (in practice, it is defined by the user when rearranging the stations).
  • the inventive method for automatically managing and organizing a database 20 of Logical Channel Numbers (LCN), related to television program channels selectable for viewing by a user comprises the steps of:
  • a database 20 of LCNs constituted by a plurality (n) of record levels, the n-th-level LCN records, if present, being grouped into groups belonging to a respective one of the (n-l)-th-level LCN records;
  • selecting (S4) a channel for viewing by starting from its own first-level LCN; if the first-level LCN is identical for more than one channel, selecting (S5) the desired channel for viewing by using the related second-level LCN;
  • an LCN database 20 constituted by two levels of LCN records, i.e. a first level of LCN records and a second level of LCN records, the second-level LCN records being grouped into groups belonging to a respective one of the first-level LCN records;
  • the previously described system 1 is therefore adapted to implement the above method for automatically managing and organizing the LCN database 20 as follows:
  • the second memory 18 contains the LCN database 20 with n record levels, the n-th- level LCN records, if present, being grouped into groups belonging to a respective one of the (n- 1 )-th-level LCN records;
  • each channel is assigned a first numeric identification type as a first-level LCN stored in the database 20;
  • each channel is assigned a second numeric identification type as a second-level LCN linked to the already assigned first-level LCN;
  • each channel is assigned an n-th numeric identification type as an n-th level LCN linked to the already assigned (n-l)-th- level LCN;
  • the second central processing unit 14 is adapted to select each channel for viewing, upon input from the actuating means 5, by starting from its own first- level LCN as entered through the actuating means 5;
  • the second central processing unit 14 is adapted to select the desired channel for viewing, upon input from the actuating means 5, by using the related second-level LCN as entered through the actuating means 5;
  • the second central processing unit 14 is adapted to select the desired channel for viewing, upon input from the actuating means 5, by using the related n-th-level LCN as entered through the actuating means 5.
  • the second central processing unit 14 can execute a software routine for manually rearranging the stations having the same first- level LCN.
  • the value of the second-level LCN linked to the respective first-level LCN can be transmitted by a broadcaster to the device 9.
  • the receiving device 9 may comprise means allowing the user to manually rearrange the second-level LCNs which are not being transmitted by a broadcaster.
  • the receiving device 9 may comprise means allowing the user to manually rearrange the second-level LCNs which have not been previously defined.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
  • Details Of Television Systems (AREA)
  • Two-Way Televisions, Distribution Of Moving Picture Or The Like (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention porte sur un procédé, un appareil et un système pour gérer et organiser automatiquement une base de données de numéros de chaîne logique (LCN) apparentés à des programmes de radiotélévision : le procédé permet l'obtention d'une classification hiérarchique de la pluralité de programmes de radiotélévision sur au moins deux niveaux, sur la base d'un critère logique prédéfini associé à un premier type d'identification numérique approximative de chaque chaîne et ensuite, à au moins un second type spécifique de la même chaîne, qui peut être préaffecté durant une transmission ou affecté conformément à un critère facultatif ou manuel défini par l'utilisateur lors de la réception.
PCT/IB2012/050957 2011-03-01 2012-03-01 Procédé et système pour gérer et organiser automatiquement une base de données de numéros de chaîne logique (lcn) apparentés à des programmes de télévision WO2012117361A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP12715155.3A EP2710798A1 (fr) 2011-03-01 2012-03-01 Procédé et système pour gérer et organiser automatiquement une base de données de numéros de chaîne logique (lcn) apparentés à des programmes de télévision

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
ITTO2011A000183 2011-03-01
IT000183A ITTO20110183A1 (it) 2011-03-01 2011-03-01 Metodo e sistema per la gestione e l'organizzazione automatica del data base degli lcn (logical channel number) relativi ai programmi televisivi.

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2012117361A1 true WO2012117361A1 (fr) 2012-09-07

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PCT/IB2012/050957 WO2012117361A1 (fr) 2011-03-01 2012-03-01 Procédé et système pour gérer et organiser automatiquement une base de données de numéros de chaîne logique (lcn) apparentés à des programmes de télévision

Country Status (3)

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EP (1) EP2710798A1 (fr)
IT (1) ITTO20110183A1 (fr)
WO (1) WO2012117361A1 (fr)

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0486988A1 (fr) 1990-11-22 1992-05-27 EDICO S.r.l. Méthode pour la sélection et la mémorisation d'informations de syntonisation relatives des signaux radioélectriques
GB2384924A (en) * 2002-02-04 2003-08-06 Novapal Ltd A digital TV receiver with means for finding alternative regional transmissions or alternative audio
US20040021640A1 (en) * 2002-07-30 2004-02-05 Lee Sung Sub Favorite channel remote controller and method
WO2005015900A1 (fr) * 2003-08-07 2005-02-17 Koninklijke Philips Electronics, N.V. Triage des numeros des canaux de television numerique
US20070099654A1 (en) * 2005-10-20 2007-05-03 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Broadcasting signal receiving apparatus and control method thereof

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0486988A1 (fr) 1990-11-22 1992-05-27 EDICO S.r.l. Méthode pour la sélection et la mémorisation d'informations de syntonisation relatives des signaux radioélectriques
GB2384924A (en) * 2002-02-04 2003-08-06 Novapal Ltd A digital TV receiver with means for finding alternative regional transmissions or alternative audio
US20040021640A1 (en) * 2002-07-30 2004-02-05 Lee Sung Sub Favorite channel remote controller and method
WO2005015900A1 (fr) * 2003-08-07 2005-02-17 Koninklijke Philips Electronics, N.V. Triage des numeros des canaux de television numerique
US20070099654A1 (en) * 2005-10-20 2007-05-03 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Broadcasting signal receiving apparatus and control method thereof

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP2710798A1 (fr) 2014-03-26
ITTO20110183A1 (it) 2012-09-02

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